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. 2020 Sep;50(9):1593-1611.
doi: 10.1007/s40279-020-01299-4.

Assessing Technical Skills in Talented Youth Athletes: A Systematic Review

Till Koopmann  1 , Irene Faber  2   3 , Joseph Baker  4 , Jörg Schorer  2
Affiliations

Assessing Technical Skills in Talented Youth Athletes: A Systematic Review

Till Koopmann et al. Sports Med. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Talent identification and development (TID) programs aim to identify players with the greatest potential for long-term success. Previous research suggests that the assessment of sport-specific technical skills is valuable for discriminating between more and less skilled individuals and/or for predicting future performance.

Objective: This review aims to provide an overview on both the instruments used to assess sport-specific technical skills and their discriminatory, explanatory and/or predictive findings in the context of TID.

Methods: Electronic searches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Knowledge, SPORTDiscus, SURF and Scopus (January 1990-October 2019). Search terms covered the areas of sport, technical skills assessment, performance, skill level and youth. In the end, 59 relevant studies were identified and evaluated.

Results: The results highlight the widespread and important role of technical skills in TID; almost all studies (93%) reported discriminatory, explanatory and/or predictive benefits for the assessment of sport-specific technical skills. Analyzing and categorizing the number of assessment methods applied in the studies (n = 69) according to their method type ('technique-related' or 'outcome-related' variables) and method set-up ('experimental' or 'competition' data acquisition environment) indicated a clear tendency towards 'outcome-related' (73%) and 'experimental' (75%) assessment methods. We also found a strong overrepresentation of studies assessing cross-sectional data (75%) in soccer (53%) in male samples (74% of studies reporting subjects' sex) from European countries (64%).

Conclusions: On the one hand, our findings demonstrate the great capability of sport-specific technical skills assessments to discriminate different performance levels and predict future performance in TID activities. On the other hand, this review highlights the focus on 'outcome-related' and 'experimental' methods in specific populations and, consequently, the limited knowledge in other areas. Here, the application of 'technique-related' and 'competition' methods appears promising for adding new knowledge, especially in the light of technological advances.

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Conflict of interest statement

Till Koopmann, Irene Faber, Joseph Baker, and Jörg Schorer declare that they have no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this review.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram displaying the search’s work flow
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Overview of assessment methods included in the 59 studies; arranged by method type, method set-up, the different sports and the sport-specific technical skill assessed
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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